Intrinsic value (ethics)
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| - | :''[[Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?]]''<br>One of Post-Impressionist [[Paul Gauguin]]'s most famous paintings. | ||
| - | The '''meaning of life''' constitutes a philosophical question concerning the [[purpose]] and [[Intrinsic value (ethics)|significance]] of human existence or biological life in general. This [[concept]] can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as ''Why are we here?'', ''What's life all about?'' and ''What is the meaning of it all?'' It has been the subject of much [[philosophy|philosophical]], [[science|scientific]], and [[theology|theological]] speculation throughout history. There have been a large number of answers to these questions from many different [[cultural]] and [[ideological]] backgrounds. | + | '''Intrinsic value''' is an ethical and [[Intrinsic and extrinsic properties (philosophy)|philosophic property]]. It is the ethical or [[philosophic value]] that an [[object (philosophy)|object]] has "in itself" or "for its own sake", as an [[Intrinsic and extrinsic properties (philosophy)|intrinsic property]]. An object with intrinsic value may be regarded as an '''end''' or '''end-in-itself'''. |
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| - | The meaning of life is deeply mixed with the philosophical and religious conceptions of [[existence]], [[consciousness]], and [[happiness]], and touches on many other issues, such as [[Linguistic meaning|symbolic meaning]], [[ontology]], [[Value (philosophy)|value]], [[purpose]], [[ethics]], [[good and evil]], [[free will]], [[conceptions of God]], the [[existence of God]], the [[soul]], and the [[afterlife]]. Scientific contributions are more indirect; by describing the [[empiricism|empirical]] [[fact]]s about the [[universe]], science provides some context and sets parameters for conversations on related topics. An alternative, human-centric, and not a cosmic/religious approach is the question "What is the meaning of ''my'' life?" The value of the question pertaining to the purpose of life may be considered to be coincidal with the achievement of [[ultimate reality]], if that is believed by one to exist. | + | |
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| - | ==Popular culture treatments== | + | |
| - | The mystery of life and its meaning is an often recurring subject in [[popular culture]], featured in [[mass media|entertainment media]] and [[the arts|various forms]] of [[art]], and more specifically in [[music]], [[literature]] and [[visual arts]], for example: | + | |
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| - | *in songs like [[The Offspring]]'s "[[The Meaning of Life (Offspring song)|The Meaning of Life]]", [[Nas]]' "[[Life's a Bitch (song)|Life's a Bitch]]", [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]]' "[[Reason to Live]]", [[George Harrison]]'s "[[All Things Must Pass (song)|All Things Must Pass]]" and "[[What Is Life]]", [[Frank Sinatra]]'s "[[That's Life (song)|That's Life]]", [[Eric Idle]]'s "[[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life]]", [[Evanescence]]'s "[[Bring Me To Life]]" and "[[Sweet Sacrifice]]", [[Nelly Furtado]]'s "[[All Good Things (Come To An End)]]" and "[[In God's Hands (song)|In God's Hands]]", [[30 Seconds to Mars]]' "[[A Beautiful Lie (song)|A Beautiful Lie]]", [[Good Charlotte]]'s "[[I Just Wanna Live]]" and "[[The Chronicles of Life and Death]]" and [[Linkin Park]]'s "[[In the End]]" and "[[Breaking the Habit]]"; | + | |
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| - | *in books like [[A. C. Grayling|Anthony C. Grayling]]'s ''[[The Meaning of Things]]'', [[Viktor Frankl]]'s ''[[Man's Search for Meaning]]'', [[Robert Nozick]]'s ''[[Philosophical Explanations]]'' and ''[[The Examined Life]]'', [[Ken Wilber]]'s ''[[Sex, Ecology, Spirituality]]'', [[Julian Baggini]]'s ''What's it All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life'', [[Rick Warren]]'s ''[[The Purpose Driven Life]]'', [[Norman O. Brown]]'s ''[[Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History]]'', [[Oswald Spengler]]'s ''[[The Decline of the West]]'', [[Daniel Dennett]]'s ''[[Darwin's Dangerous Idea|Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life]]'', [[Richard Dawkins]]' ''[[Unweaving the Rainbow]]'' and ''[[River out of Eden]]'' and [[Alister McGrath]]'s ''[[Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life]]''; | + | |
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| - | *and in paintings like [[Paul Gauguin]]'s ''[[Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?]]'', [[Edvard Munch]]'s ''[[The Scream]]'', [[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]]'s ''[[The End of the World (painting)|The End of the World]]'', [[Hieronymus Bosch]]'s ''[[Ascent of the Blessed]]'', [[Hans Memling]]'s ''[[The Last Judgment (Memling)|The Last Judgment]]'' triptych and [[Thomas Cole]]'s ''[[The Voyage of Life]]'' series. | + | |
| + | It is contrasted with [[instrumental value]] (or extrinsic value), the value of which depends on how much it generates intrinsic value. For an [[eudaemonist]], happiness has intrinsic value, while having a family may not have intrinsic value, yet be instrumental, since it generates happiness. Intrinsic value is a term employed in [[axiology]], the study of quality or value. | ||
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Revision as of 12:05, 13 September 2009
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Intrinsic value is an ethical and philosophic property. It is the ethical or philosophic value that an object has "in itself" or "for its own sake", as an intrinsic property. An object with intrinsic value may be regarded as an end or end-in-itself.
It is contrasted with instrumental value (or extrinsic value), the value of which depends on how much it generates intrinsic value. For an eudaemonist, happiness has intrinsic value, while having a family may not have intrinsic value, yet be instrumental, since it generates happiness. Intrinsic value is a term employed in axiology, the study of quality or value.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Intrinsic value (ethics)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
